The Criminals It Deserves
Episode 5 of The Republic Of Sarah begins with Sarah and the gang starting their new currency, with machines running in the town hall. Journalist Weston Woods is there to see how the town is running, with Sarah intent on using him to gain favour with the US. She believes this will get them a seat at the International table. As we’ve already explained in past recaps, that’s not how this works and they need to gain favour from the UN. However, trouble brews when a drunk driver smashes through a hotdog stand and causes chaos. This spurs Liz Fernsby into action, demanding Sarah do something or there’s going to be a strike. Of course, because the town is now on its own, they don’t have a proper code of law and people are exploiting that. Although the driver is charged with drunk driving, there’s not much else law enforcement can do. Sarah refuses to change the town – and even refuses to accept suggestions from anyone else. Well, this “republic of Sarah” is looking very much like a dictatorship isn’t it? It’s either Sarah’s way or the highway. Sarah eventually executes a new law to prosecute anyone who causes trouble after arriving within the first six months of entering Greylock. If they disobey the laws or cause trouble, then they’ll be deported. After the order, Weston speaks to Sarah about how she came up with this. Danny bursts in though and calls her out for discriminatory behaviour, believing Sarah is targeting different groups with different rules. However, Sarah has a bigger road-bump to try and overcome when she learns Maya is in trouble. She drove a bulldozer into several porta-potties and Sarah needs to step up and enforce her rules. Instead, she backtracks and decides not to deport Maya given she’s her friend. They’re going to make an exception just for her. Understandably, the townsfolk are not happy and Liz calls Sarah out for flip-flopping on her ideals. Discussing this with Grover, Sarah decides to use Danny to defend Maya in court. This way he can dismantle the law legally and get Maya off the hook. Danny puts on a good defence, and with no jury present it’s left up to the judge to decide. The case ends and Maya is found guilty. She’s being deported from Greylock. Luis tries too leave with her, packing his things ready to go. Only, Maya rejects his offer. In doing so, he immediately heads up to see Sarah, pleading with her to reverse the order – And she does. Sarah does another live stream and reverses the executive order. She’s not going to deport anyone for misdemeanors after all, she’s going to change it to mandatory community service instead. On the back of all this drama, Weston produces an article that paints Sarah as a dictator. He promises he has an open mind and will change it – if she’s willing to change too.
The Episode Review
Anyone else notice how Sarah has started calling Greylock “MY country” rather than “OUR country?” Sounds a bit like a dictatorship here doesn’t it? I’m definitely not surprised Weston’s article has painted her in that light, especially as all we’ve seen over these episodes is how it’s Sarah’s way or the highway. After all, Sarah scoring shady deals, rigging the court system, flip-flopping on the law and discriminating against certain groups aren’t exactly aspiring attributes. And again, the completely incorrect plotline that new countries need to gain the US’s favour is a really niggling and irritating component to this series. In reality, you need to gain the UN’s approval to form a new country. Ordinarily I’d let things like this go (it is a teen drama for the CW after all) but the fact that this entire show depends entirely on this one incorrect plot point is reason enough to bring it up. This episode though we see Sarah flip-flopping with the laws she’s making up on a whim, while the actual story paints Sarah as misunderstood and doing the right thing. If she was really doing the right thing then she’d bring in a whole host of advisors to bounce ideas off – even those she doesn’t like very much. Doing everything herself and rejecting ideas from “negative nancies” doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Hopefully next week’s episode can improve as this one felt like a step back from the good work done in episode 4.
